NBNews:  What is NB Sustainability?

RW:          Sustainability is not only about Corporate Social Responsibility; it’s responsible financial management. 

                 Environmental and social sustainability initiatives directly impact the productivity and financial bottom line of running and occupying a property profitably; building, buying, tenanting, selling and demolishing.

                Responsible sustainability is applying the right initiative at the right time to maximise corporate and financial returns during the life cycle of a property development.

                Napier & Blakeley not only have the reputation and breadth of services to deliver this technically, their knowledge of the needs of both tenants’ and landlords’ also allows them to provide valuable strategic, positioning and portfolio priority advice.

 NBNews:  Are there differences between Tenant and Landlord Sustainability needs?

RW:          Yes.  The two perspectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but often opportunities are lost in the tenant and landlord relationship that could be leveraged with objective mediation.  You need to work with a partner that understands where the best returns for your investment exist.

                Owners need advice and due diligence that delivers the best market return on their property whether it’s during demolition, construction or refurbishment of existing buildings while tenants’ needs focus on their Corporate Social Responsibility commitments and maximising day to day productivity, such as energy use, recycling and staff wellbeing.

NBNews:  You recently presented at the PIR forum in Coolum.  How was your paper received?

RW:          In a forum of Property Investment Managers, the fiscal bottom line is always the top priority, and with the recent global market strain there’s no doubt that everyone there was firmly focused capital adequacy and cost.

                Some delegates saw Sustainability as something that is ‘worthy’ but low priority right now, while others understood that neglect now may reduce their opportunities in the longer term.  But the business principle for both positions is constant – “How do I maximise returns?”. 

                Sustainability is not just a ‘feel good’ initiative.  It is a cost management tool.  If you have a 4 star premises and a Government tenant requires a 5 star rating next year, you have to consider

§     how much the tenant is worth to you?

§     what options are open to you to reach a 5 star rating cost effectively? 

                Sometimes the solution is “to do nothing” and sometimes it’s a matter of applying an initiative that works for your budget and your required rating.    To ignore it completely is ignoring possible ‘pay back’ initiatives that could cost you market share.

NBNews:  Can you give me some examples of Pay Back on initiatives you’ve implemented?

RW:          The waste management recycling I put in place for Optus recycled 92% of the waste at the Macquarie Park Campus and was 5% cheaper than standard cleaning contracting/waste management services.  I was at Optus for 3 years with the same budget and was able to increase services and deliver significant reductions in emissions across our office portfolio.

NBNews:  What innovations impress you in property sustainability right now?

RW:         The focus of technologies to not only have a positive environmental impact but also a positive impact on occupant productivity impresses me. The biggest breakthrough is in lighting which for a new building can now deliver Australian Standard compliant lighting at around 5 Watts psm for office space. The solutions now exist for retrofitting lighting in existing buildings to deliver 6 watts psm without changes to the ceiling grid so paybacks are around three years and you can complete the work without disturbance to the tenant.

                The demand for reducing green house gas emissions is generating new technologies every day. Manufacturers of technologies such as nitrogen cooled computing and low energy lighting fit outs promote payback periods of less than three years. 

                 Sustainability is a perfect fit for Napier & Blakeley’s commitment to Cost Risk Return and I am looking forward to demonstrating that responsible sustainability equals responsible cost management.